No data to link school type with abuse

The type of school a child is sent to has no bearing on the likelihood of them being abused, according to data from NSW.

Child abuse and ill treatment in schools is split evenly across all types of institutions, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations has heard.

NSW Community and Disability Services Commissioner Steve Kinmond has addressed the inquiry about the NSW ombudsman's powers to oversee certain types of child abuse allegations.

The allegation-based scheme has been in place since 1999 to oversee employment-based accusations of assault, sexual assault, psychological harm, neglect, ill treatment and sexual misconduct.

Last year, his office dealt with about 1000 matters, 900 of which arose from either the education sector or the out-of-home care sector.

"Overwhelmingly it's the education sector and the out-of-home care sector that generates most of the reports," Mr Kinmond, who is also the deputy NSW Ombudsman, said.

Reporting was split evenly across state, Catholic and independent institutions.